Follow this step-by-step tutorial and woodworking plans to build this large outdoor DIY monogram planter in the letter of your choice, for a welcoming and personalized front porch decoration.
Sometimes we see an idea that we love and we know you will too — but we underestimate just how much you all will love it. This beautiful DIY monogram planter has gone viral over on Facebook with over 125 THOUSAND shares in just a couple of days! Michelle and her husband Ryan are here today sharing all the details about how to build your own letter planter.
Michelle and Ryan’s letter planter design creates mini planter rows for the soil and plants, so you can replant as often as you want, unlike some of the monogram planters that I’ve seen that use chicken wire to hold the plants in, making it more like a one-time planting experience. It looks great with flowers, but wouldn’t this be a fun herb garden, too?
Enough of me gushing… here is Michelle with all the details for you to build your own!
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Outdoor DIY Monogram Planter
by Michelle from Ellery Designs
More letters are coming soon — take the survey here to tell us which letter to do plans for next.
DIY Monogram Planter Plans
Update May 2020: We’ve created full detailed woodworking plans to help you build your own monogram planter! Use the drop-down menu below to choose from the available plans. More letter planter plans are coming soon — take the survey here to tell us which letter to do plans for next.
How to Build Your Own Custom DIY Monogram Planter
Hi there! Michelle here with Ellery Designs and I’m so excited to be guest posting our DIY Monogram Planter with the Remodelaholic readers! This had such a positive response on social media and I’m so excited to share the details with you today. The letter we made is really large – 4 ft x 4.5 ft x 5 inches deep to be exact. My hubby came up with this idea and executed it all! I just planted it 🙂 The options are endless – I can’t wait to decorate it differently for each season and holiday! Fake blooms would look great here too if you don’t want to worry about watering.
DIY Monogram Planter Materials
The printable woodworking plans include specific material and cut lists for each letter.
- Cedar (purchased at Menards)
- 1×12 cedar for the back of the letter*
- 1×4 cedar for the sides
- 1×3 cedar for the front
- 1×6 cedar for the planter slats
- 18 gauge 1 3/4 brad nails (and nail gun)
- Gorilla Wood Glue (used on all of the joints with the brads)
- Compound Miter Saw
- Kreg-Jig
- Miracle Gro Potting Mix
- Flowers (We used impatiens since this is a shaded area.)
Cost
Obviously the materials will vary depending on how large you construct your initial and what letter you will be building. Like I mentioned earlier, our K is really large (4 feet tall!) so it wasn’t a cheap project. The material for the cedar cost approx $150 and the plant material and soil was roughly $40 but had many left over flowers.
*We used 1×12 cedar for the backing, but the woodworking plans use 1×6 lumber since it’s more readily available in all areas and typically a bit less expensive.
See more DIY planter tutorials here
DIY Monogram Planter Step by Step Tutorial
First, Ryan built the base/backside of the K – no, he didn’t trace anything just kind of created it as he went. But we’ve done the math for you to calculate lengths and angles for each letter monogram woodworking plan!
He made the base of the K using 1×12’s and used his kreg jig to piece this together.
Next, he used the 1×4 pieces of cedar to complete the sides. Yes, it’s a lot of cuts and patience. But again — we did the math for you in the monogram letter planter woodworking plans to make it as easy as possible!
He used his compound miter saw to make all of the cuts. Each piece is secured with brad nails and Gorilla Wood Glue.
After the sides are complete, next are 1×3’s for the front pieces, the letter “frame” trim. Again, a lot more cuts (which are calculated for you in the printable plans! 😉 )
Next, he completed the inside planter slats using 1×6 cedar, mitered along the back edges using a table saw and using brad nails to secure in place at a 45 degree angle.
Related: Make your table saw easier to use with a DIY table saw workbench.
Once the slats were complete, he drilled small holes on the bottom of each one to allow for water to drain properly. (Note that in the woodworking plans, for ease of construction, the slats are installed before the front trim.)
The slats are about 7 inches apart, and the placement gives about 3 1/2″ of soil depth for planting.
Lastly, he hung it up by screwing it directly into the siding using extra long screws. Be sure to use the appropriate hardware for your material, because this is a large heavy planter!
Next it was time to plant this baby! Since this is a fully shaded area, my options were limited as to which flowers would work in shade only, so went with colorful impatiens.
One thing I learned is do not over pack with dirt – less is more. The first time you water them it may be a bit messy with excess dirt pouring out but not a big deal! You could add landscape fabric or old coffee filters to keep the soil from washing out.
We only water these about every three days or so since these flowers are very easy to keep alive and low maintenance. Again, since this is made of cedar and our siding is vinyl we don’t need to worry about any water damage.
And that’s it!! I know, it’s a bit complicated if you’re not comfortable using saws and intricate cuts but I’m beyond happy with how this turned out! And now that we’ve created detailed woodworking plans for many letters (and more coming!), we’ve made the cuts as easy possible for you.
The best part – it was 100% a unique idea! Kudos to my handy hubby! Like I said, your options are endless!
See the monogram letter planter plans we’ve created so far here — and fill out this survey to tell us what letter you want next!
We hope you love it as much as we do! If you give it a try, be sure to share and tag me @ellerydesigns on Instagram so I can see!
Get the printable monogram planter tutorial + plans HERE
Reader-Built Monogram Letter Planters
If you’ve used our plans to build this letter planter (or anything else), we’d love to see! Send us a photo here to show off you hard work.
April 2021: John P. build this beautiful letter P planter for his daughter.
“Here’s a picture of the completed project with Portulaca flowing out of the ledges! Thanks for the idea – My daughter loves it! I’m just glad she didn’t marry a chap with a surname starting with “S”!!!”
Michelle, thank you so much for sharing you beautiful planter!! Remodelaholics, be sure to pay Michelle a visit over at Ellery Designs to see more:
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Looking for more great outdoor project plans?
- Build an arched garden arbor trellis
- Build a patio table with drink coolers (or a coffee table version)
- Build a raised garden bed table
Thank you you so much, so happy to share with your fabulous readers!!
I can’t even express how much we LOVE your planter, Michelle! A huge hats off to you and Ryan for the great idea!
What did you do for drainage?
Hi! We drilled tiny holes at the bottom of each slat for proper drainage 🙂
I love your plants too. Can you share what other plants you have on your porch/patio including hanging and those in planters?
They are Impatiens. I love them! They bloom throughout the summer and are a full to partial shade plant. (Prefer full shade but will survive partial shade.)
I am a senior, disabled even. My last name initial is “M”, oh how I would love this. What would the charge be to ask you tomake it for me? Thank you. This is really beautiful.
This planter is gorgeous! I love the pop of color and personalization it adds to the home!
Thank you so much for your kind words!!
This is SOOO pretty! I absolutely love it! 🙂
*furiously trying to figure out how to make a “c”*
You could make a C by cutting squares that’s how we are going to make a G
I’ve been how to do an ‘S’ for my house! Playing with the idea of using a veneer that’s flexible for the sides, though probably nothing around that would hold up to the moisture. Also considered using the flexible landscape edging and painting white (some even have lights which would look cool at night) though that can be quite costly. Neither option allows for any face frame to be attached and I don’t want anything that doesn’t look finished’ as I’d hang mine beside the front door as well. I welcome any suggestions.
Try using LED Solar lights they at about $12.00 at Big Lots and you can find all kinds of different lights there.
you could follow these, and double the measurements
http://www.betterwhenbuilt.com/wood-letter-plans-a-m/
http://www.betterwhenbuilt.com/wood-letter-plans-n-z/
How lucky can I get, my last name starts with a “K, this is gorgeous and thank you for sharing.
Lucky girl! We’d love to see a pic when you’re finished!
I did your project and it turned out amazing! We burnt and lacquered ours. It is gorgeous! Thank you so much for the idea!!
That sounds amazing, Leandra! I would love to see pics — you can submit them here: https://www.remodelaholic.com/share-brag-post/
Would love to see them!! Please find me on instagram @ellerydesigns
I’m pretty lucky my last initial is “T”! I think this would be a lot easier than a K. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! My husband and I finished making the ‘P’ for our last name a few weeks ago and it hangs right in front of our garage. Looks beautiful and everyone loves it! Wish I could share a photo!
Hi Joanna! I didn’t see your comment until now — we would LOVE to see photos! You can share them here: https://www.remodelaholic.com/share-brag-post/
My name starts with a M lol.This will be hard! Love this it is truly beautiful!
Spring will be back soon and your monogramed wall planter is just the ticket for a side wall of my shed that backs to my garden. Great winter project for me! Thanks
How did you secure it to the wall?
Just started on a “W” for my sister-in-law for their front porch. Will be a little smaller but should still hold several flowers. Pictures of the finished product soon.
We would love to see how it turns out!
I love this
Love!!! How did you secure it to the siding?
This is going to be my daughter’s ag project with help from her dad. We are tacking the letter D. She’s super existed and I can’t wait for it to be finished. It will be a eye catcher for the front of our barn.
It will be beautiful, and what a great project to do together! We’d love to see photos when they finish.
Can you do a peace sign?
Sara
Hi Sara – if you’ll fill out the request form here, we’ll get it added to our list! https://www.remodelaholic.com/monogram-planter-letter-plan-request/